UCF's KnightLynx bus service starts as night-life alternative to driving

February 4, 2011|By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

The University of Central Florida's new late-night bus service is entering its second weekend, a fledgling program aimed at providing a long-awaited alternative to driving for Knights who enjoy nightlife.

KnightLynx, a partnership between UCF and the Lynx commuter bus service, has stops throughout the university's main campus, nearby shopping plazas and apartment complexes. The service is free to students with a UCF ID card, and runs 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.

According to the UCF Student Government Association, 368 students used the service in its debut weekend, a number spokeswoman Kayla Torpey said "exceeded our expectations."

"Overall, it was a great success," KnightLynx Director Adam Brock said of the opening weekend. For Brock, it has been a long road to get to KnightLynx.

Brock also headed a previous plan, a service called KnightDrive that would have seen students driving each other in rental cars. Liability concerns torpedoed KnightDrive, which Brock said was more specifically aimed at curtailing drunk driving than the new bus service.

Brock said drinking and driving is only part of the focus of KnightLynx; the larger goal, he said, is to provide transportation to weekend entertainment and shopping for those on campus who don't have it.

The CEO of the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, better known as Lynx, said he sees the program as a perfect opportunity to "introduce public transit to the next generation of transit riders."

"It's a natural fit for us," CEO John Lewis said.

Lewis said Lynx's partnership with the UCF SGA was forged over several months. He praised the student government for working to provide "those who want to go out and enjoy a weekend night" with safe, efficient transportation. "That's what public transit is all about."

Brock said the program is still awaiting budget approval from the SGA's Activity and Service Fee committee. He estimated the cost at about $40,000 a semester, and said he's looking into alternative forms of funding, including community sponsorship and possible grants.

Brock said the service was modeled after similar programs at the University of Florida and Florida State University. UF's Later Gator service, a partnership with Gainesville's Regional Transit System, runs similar hours. One line runs Wednesday through Saturday, and two others run Tuesday through Saturday, stopping at area shopping plazas and nightlife.

At FSU, the Night Nole service runs Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. The bus line is part of Tallahassee's StarMetro service, which allows FSU students and faculty to ride any of its buses for free anytime, according to the city's website.

Both the SGA and Lynx said they were open to the possibility of extending the service to other nights if demand warrants it.

The UCF bus service is divided into two lines. The Green Line runs north and east of campus, stopping at the UCF Arena, Pegasus Landing apartments and University Shoppes plaza, which is home to some of the UCF area's popular bars, including the Knight Library.

The Blue Line runs south of campus, with several stops in the Waterford Lakes area. It also stops at several apartment complexes, including the Boardwalk, Lake Claire, The Edge and Pegasus Pointe.

Only a small sign with a UCF logo differentiates the KnightLynx stops from normal stops for Lynx. The buses, however, are hard to miss, splashed in UCF's gold and black and bearing the new KnightLynx logo.

Lewis said Lynx plans to monitor ridership carefully in the program's infancy, with a focus on maintaining a wait time of no more than about 15 minutes. He said the bus service might change the size of the vehicles used or swap them throughout the night if data shows lulls in demand for the service.

Brock said the bus line is still developing a following, and cars remain the main mode of transportation for many students. He said the next challenge is to spread awareness.

"Its all about education," Brock said. Torpey said the student government will be leaning heavily on social media and grassroots marketing to get the word out to students.

Evidence of the early success of that campaign was quickly apparent; almost 900 people said they were "attending" a Facebook event celebrating the KnightLynx launch last weekend.

Meanwhile, university police seemed cautiously optimistic about the program. UCF police Sgt. Troy Williamson said the potential for a decline in DUI cases could free up officers to focus on other concerns on campus, including vehicle burglaries.

After midnight Saturday, Jake & Micky's bar was doing a brisk business, but the KnightLynx bus stop nearby stood empty. The bus ran frequently — stopping twice in about 15 minutes, as advertised — but no one got on or off. Behind the Knight Library, it was a similar scene as 1 a.m. Sunday approached.

A KnightLynx driver said late Saturday that the bus had been packed at times earlier in the night and that the majority of passengers had been well behaved. He said a few people who forgot their UCF ID cards had to pay $2 for a ride.

Brock said his goal for the program early on is to attract between 300 and 500 students each Friday and Saturday night.